Rollable playing piece for a game



Nov. 11, 1958 J. MODICA, JR 2,859,968

ROLLABLE PLAYING PIECE FOR A GAME Filed Feb. 20. 1957 IN VEN TOR. .7052? Amp/09 JA.

BYMW

Unite States Patent ROLLABLE PLAYING PIECE FOR A GAME Joseph Modica, Jr., Garden City South, N. Y., assignor to Tudor Metal Products Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 20, 1957, Serial No. 641,308

1 Claim. (Cl. 273-58) This invention relates to a playing piece for a table game.

An object of the invention is to provide a rollable playing piece which will come to rest at either of two oppositely disposed locations on the surface thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rollable playing piece provided with weighted means which is guided for movement transversely thereof for weighting the rollable playing piece at either of two diametrical positions and which weighted means is shiftable from one position to the other.

The invention is further directed to a rollable playing piece in the form of a sphere having diametrically disposed flattened areas and a tube located within the sphere extending diametrically between said flattened areas in which tube a Weighted element is confined for movement longitudinally thereof for increasing the weight of the sphere in either of its hemispherical portions whereby the sphere will be slowed up in its rolling movement and will roll over a surface more or less in the direction of a curved path to one side or the other and will come to rest on either of said diametrically flattened areas.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, reference is now made to the following specification and accompanying drawings in which the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a rollable playing piece constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken approximately on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

The invention is illustrated in the drawings in the form of a hollow sphere which may simulate a basketball for playing a table game of basketball. The sphere diflers from the usual basketball in that it is constructed so as to come to rest at either of two oppositely disposed locations on the surface thereof. The sphere is erratic in its rolling movement over a surface or in other words, it will tend to roll in more or less of a curved path to one side or the other instead of in a straight line as well as rapidly coming to rest.

The sphere 10 is composed of two semi-spherical shell sections 11 which are cemented or otherwise secured together in spherical formation. The shell sections 11 2,859,968 Patented Nov. 11, 1958 are of similar formation each having a flattened area 12, the flattened areas of the two sections being diametrically disposed when the sections are secured together in spherical formation. Formed integrally with each section 11 is a tubular portion 13 which projects inwardly from the flattened area 12 with the inner ends of the tubular portions being disposed in alignment and forming a continuous tube extending diametrically of the flattened areas of the sphere. A plurality of lugs 14 are formed on the inner faces of each section which project outwardly beyond the annular edge 15 thereof so that the projections on each section project into the oppositely disposed section with the annular edges of the sections arranged in mating abutting relation.

A weighted member 16 such as a metal ball is located Within the tube for free rolling movement longitudinally thereof. When the sphere is rolled, the weighted member will roll back and forth along the tube to produce the aforesaid erratic rolling movement of the sphere. Furthermore, the opposite shell sections will be unevenly weighted by the weighted member so as to cause the sphere to rapidly come to rest.

While the preferred form of the invention is shown and described herein, it is to be understood that the same is not so limited but shall cover and include any and all modifications thereof which fall within the purview of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A playing piece for a game, comprising a hollow sphere made up of a pair of hollow hemispherical sections having mating annular edges secured together to form the sphere, a tube formed integrally with each hemispherical section, each tube being coaxial with the annular edges of its hemispherical section and with the other tube, the tubes terminating inwardly in open inner ends disposed contiguous to each other, the tubes having closed outer ends formed integrally with the tubes and with the hollow hemispherical sections, the closed outer ends of the tubes having diametrically opposed flattened circular outer surfaces coaxial with the tubes, and a weighted spherical element disposed for rolling movement in the tubes longitudinally thereof to and from the closed outer ends of the tubes so that the spherical element rests against a closed end of a tube and the weight of the spherical element augments the weight of the sphere when the sphere is resting on a portion of the outside of the sphere adjacent that closed end of the tube on which the weighted spherical element rests.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 973,595 Wahlin Oct. 25, 1910 1,120,757 Steinberger Dec. 15, 1914 2,672,343 Augier Mar. 16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 252,120 Germany Oct. 17, 1912 

